The Quest for a Healthier Lifestyle — Hiking 2.0

Today my friends and I hiked the trails through Moro Canyon in Laguna Beach and I must say, I’m so glad I discovered these trails! I don’t know how many times I’ve passed Crystal Cove State Park while driving down PCH and I’ve never known there were so many hiking trails and campgrounds tucked into this beautiful area. The AllTrails app is a miracle worker! If you’re like me and new to hiking and not quite sure where to go or not familiar with the area you will be hiking, get this app, it’s amazing! Because of it, I think I found my hiking trail soulmate.

We decided to head out early since we’re supposed to hit a record high today and we didn’t want to hike through the canyon during the hottest part of the day. This required me to peel myself out of bed at 6 A.M., which was a challenge in itself. Unfortunately, I had a little bit too much fun last night and woke up with a splitting headache…for future reference, don’t attempt to play Betrayal at House on the Hill and drink at the same time; but I’ll save the details of that awesome game for a future blog post… After sluggishly getting out of bed, getting dressed and throwing down some Excedrin, I drove down to Huntington Beach to pick up my friends and off we went!

Moro Canyon is tucked away not far from the coast and makes for some beautiful views once you get to the top. There’s a labyrinth of trails, ranging from 1 mile all the way to 9 miles, with cut-through trails along the way — just in case you can’t quite make it as far as you thought. It makes for endless possibilities for hiking — exactly what I was looking for!

The endless possibilities in Crystal Cove State Park — Our path is highlighted in red.

We chose to hike an approximate 4 mile trail; now that we’re done, we could’ve gone further, but since it was our first time, we didn’t want to overextend ourselves and end up stuck in the canyon out of breath. This time, I wanted to be the “serious hiker” so I wore my hiking boots rather than my Reeboks. FYI, when wearing high-top hiking boots, make sure you wear crew socks and NOT ankle socks! I have a nice blister on my Achilles tendon that will forever remind me of that… Ah, the lessons you learn…

There was a good amount of hill climbing at beginning of the No Name Ridge trail head, but it was a steady climb so it wasn’t so bad. It was better to get it out of the way at the beginning rather than delaying it for the end… During our hike we decided to return every weekend until we’ve hiked every possible trail. Next Saturday, we’ll be taking the same path up, but taking the East Cut-Across and through Moro Ridge. When we made our way back to the car, we had such a sense of accomplishment, it was very invigorating. I can’t wait to go again next weekend!

Eventually, I want to be able to hike to one of the primitive camp sites for a mini backpacking trip, just to see if I can do it…but that will be a couple months out.